{"id":400,"date":"2026-05-15T10:08:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T10:08:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nativevoicesonline.com\/?p=400"},"modified":"2026-05-15T10:08:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T10:08:26","slug":"17-year-old-black-teen-from-new-jersey-scores-perfect-1600-on-sat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nativevoicesonline.com\/?p=400","title":{"rendered":"17-Year-Old Black Teen From New Jersey Scores Perfect 1600 on SAT"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><html><br \/>\n  <body><\/p>\n<p>Nationwide \u2014 Sahli Negassi, a 17-year-old African American student from West Orange, New Jersey, has earned a perfect 1600 on the SAT. This rare achievement places him among less than 1% of test-takers nationwide.Born in Manhattan, New York, and raised in West Orange, Sahli\u2019s academic journey started at Mount Pleasant and St. Cloud elementary schools. He never attended preschool but credits his older siblings\u2019 textbooks for building his early knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>Seeing his perfect score was a surreal moment for him. \u201cI walked out of [my] first period [class] and immediately called my mom,\u201d he told WOBOE. \u201cI showed it to a classmate, but then I got nervous and joked that it was Photoshopped. Even now, it still doesn\u2019t feel real. But more than anything, I was relieved \u2014 I had finally proven to myself that it was possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sahli says that he prepared for the SAT mostly on his own, using free resources like Khan Academy and YouTube. His rigorous AP coursework, particularly in Language, U.S. History, and Calculus, also played a key role. Balancing SAT prep with AP exams and track competitions was tough, but he made time whenever he could.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReally, the hardest part of studying was finding time. I had to make it whenever I could \u2014 at meals, during slow class periods, on bus rides. Taking it one question at a time was good enough,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Outside of academics, Sahli is an active member of the cross-country and track teams. He also leads several organizations, serving as president of the math team and the school\u2019s National Honor Society chapter. Additionally, he is a varsity chess team member and plays in the Royal Strings ensemble.<\/p>\n<p>West Orange High School Principal Oscar Guerrero praised Sahli for his academic and extracurricular success, saying, \u201cSahli represents the best of West Orange High School. His achievement on the SAT is incredible, but what\u2019s just as impressive is how he manages to excel across so many different activities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Looking ahead, Sahli hopes to attend Harvard and pursue a career in law. He said, \u201cGive me 10 years and I\u2019ll be out in the world doing something more important than a standardized test.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His advice to other students is simple: \u201cBe intentional. Know what you want for yourself, and throw your whole body at it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>  <\/body><br \/>\n<\/html><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nationwide \u2014 Sahli Negassi, a 17-year-old African American student from West Orange, New Jersey, has earned a perfect 1600 on the SAT. This rare achievement places him among less than 1% of test-takers nationwide.Born in Manhattan, New York, and raised in West Orange, Sahli\u2019s academic journey started at Mount Pleasant and St. Cloud elementary schools. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativevoicesonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativevoicesonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativevoicesonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativevoicesonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativevoicesonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nativevoicesonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativevoicesonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativevoicesonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativevoicesonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativevoicesonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}